The Business of Super Bowl XLVI, By the Numbers

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The Super Bowl is a big game for NFL fans and players, and it’s arguably an even bigger day for business interests surrounding the event. Here’s a look at some of the stats that have nothing whatsoever to do with what happens on the field, but a lot concerning how much money is spent.
59 Percentage of respondents in a recent survey who said they’d prefer to watch the big game on a state-of-the-art TV rather than sit in the stands. Considering that a Super Bowl ticket starts at around $2,800 and goes much higher, it’s probably cheaper to buy a high-quality new TV too.

$15,499.99 Price of a Super Bowl package sold by Costco that includes two tickets to the game, four nights in an Indianapolis hotel, and admission to a pre-game party and an annual food-and-wine event called “Taste of the NFL.”

(VIDEO: Super Bowl XLVI Preview)

1,957 Number of complaints received by the Better Business Bureau regarding ticket sellers in 2011, the most ever logged.

254 Number of temporary seats sold for this year’s Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. This figure is small compared to last year’s Super Bowl, when some 1,250 ticketholders arrived in Texas only to discover they didn’t have the seats they expected—or any seats at all. A scandal erupted as hundreds of ticketholders had to watch the game on TV monitors in the stadium’s basement.

41 Percentage of men who say they’ve bet on the Super Bowl. Only 21% of women admit to having wagered on the game.

80 to 1 The highest odds that sports books in Nevada gave bettors who wagered that the Giants would win the Super Bowl. These odds were given earlier in the season, after the Giants lost four games in a row. A gambler placing, say, a $100 bet on the Giants then stands to win $8,000 if the G-Men come out on top next Sunday.

(MORE: How the Super Bowl Has Morphed into an Entire Season for Advertising)

$500,000 Amount that rapper 50 Cent reportedly won betting on the Giants to win the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco. For the Super Bowl, the rapper has supposedly agreed to Tweet a photo of his private parts if the Giants lose.

$5 Million Reported amount that rapper Birdman wants to bet on the Patriots to win on Sunday. Has he met 50 Cent?

$94 Million Record-setting total for bets placed on the Super Bowl in 2006. Sports books, of course, are hoping that this year’s game sets a new all-time high.

$205 Million Estimated amount lost by American employers every 10 minutes that employees spend talking about the Super Bowl on the job rather than working.

600+ Number of private jets that flew into Dallas for the big game last year, a Super Bowl record. This year, a new record for private planes is expected to be set.

$3.5 Million Average amount paid to NBC for a 30-second commercial in the Super Bowl. Guess how much advertisers paid to air commercials during the first Super Bowl in 1967? $42,000, or an increase of 8,333%.

(MORE: The Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2011)

44 Percentage of women who say they watch the Super Bowl “primarily for the commercials.” As for men, 31% tune in mainly to check out the ads.

At Least 10 Number of automotive brands expected to advertise during the Super Bowl (Acura, Audi, Chevy, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen). Several of the car ads, including a vampire-themed commercial for Audi, a reprisal of Ferris Bueller by Matthew Broderick for Honda, and, of course, the Volkswagen “canine choir” barking out a “Star Wars” song, have been leaked online so that automakers can get eyeballs on their products long before the game.

50 Approximate percentage of Super Bowl ads that were available to view online several days before they air on TV during the game, leading a Chicago Tribune columnist to wonder whether watching them on Sunday will feel anticlimactic.

$11 Billion Estimated total that’ll be spent on the Super Bowl by American consumers this year. The average viewer is expected to drop $63.87 on snacks, beverages, and apparel, up from $59.33 a year ago. The numbers may skew high because of folks like 50 Cent and Birdman, who probably spend a bit more than average to celebrate the Super Bowl.

Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.